UCLA inconsistent against Division II teams

Monday, May 6, 1996

Bruins dominate Cal State L.A., come up short against Dominguez
HillsBy Yoni Tamler

Daily Bruin Staff

One day unbeatable, the next day feckless. One day masterful
both defensively and offensively, the next day shaky pitching
coupled with comatose hitting. One day Jekyll, the next day
Hyde.

Over the span of two games this weekend the UCLA baseball team
ran the gamut from success to underachievement against two Cal
State schools, clubbing Los Angeles 18-1 and falling to Dominguez
Hills 5-4, both at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

The Bruins amused themselves with 17 hits and a season-high
scoring flurry Friday night, but ended up looking silly on Saturday
in losing to a team they thrashed 13-6 earlier this season. Such a
display cannot be encouraging as UCLA (31-21) heads towards the
final seven games of its regular season.

What accounted for the pendulum shift, the alternately baffling
displays of domination and ineptitude? UCLA head coach Gary Adams
had a few answers.

"We beat a Division II team on Friday 18-1 and we acted like
that game carried over into this game and it didn’t," said Adams,
dissatisfied at his team’s half-hearted effort Saturday. "We gotta
be ready to play when the first pitch is pitched."

Delivering the first pitch in Saturday’s loss was Jim Parque
(8-2) in his non-league debut this season. Parque, who was just
invited to join teammate Troy Glaus at the Team USA Olympic
tryouts, did not look his usual self against the Toros (31-20)
while scattering nine hits for five runs (two earned) through six
innings.

After that, Nick St. George and Rick Heineman assumed command of
UCLA’s defense, combining for three shut-out innings. But it was
UCLA’s lax hitting early in the game that made the difference in
the loss.

"Everybody was waiting around for us to finally get something
going because we didn’t start early," Adams said. "The players kept
saying, ‘We’re gonna get them, we’re gonna get them,’ and we never
did. The guys at the plate were being careless with their at-bats,
not adjusting to the guys out there."

In the bottom of the eighth Troy Glaus and Tim DeCinces hit
back-to-back home runs, and Pete Zamora followed with a double. It
was as if UCLA was announcing to the Toros, "Okay, now we’ll start
playing." But the Bruins’ procrastination finally caught up with
them, and they flied out twice to end the inning.

"You gotta treat that team like any other team because they have
nothing to lose," St. George said after the game. "For them this is
the high of the season probably."

UCLA played to its utmost potential in Friday’s obliteration of
the Golden Eagles (26-28), looking years apart from its Saturday
self.

Second baseman Brett Nista led all hitters with a double, two
singles, and three RBIs in four at-bats. Zamora, Glaus and DeCinces
all homered for UCLA, repeating their act the following day.

Equally impressive was the effort from Kevin Sheredy in his
first start of the year. The UCLA record-holder for saves in a
single season, Sheredy (3-1) tossed five innings and gave up only
one run on five hits.

"It took me a couple innings to really get into the idea that I
still need to throw the same way, and I don’t need to change
things," said Sheredy, who was a starting pitcher all last summer
in the Cape Cod league. "It was a good start, something I can build
on.

"It’s a little easier starting, because I know when I’m going to
throw. Sometimes I find myself coming to the ball game not knowing
if you’re going to pitch and you’re not mentally as ready as you
should be."

ANDREW SCHOLER/Daily Bruin

Pete Zamora homered in both weekend games against Dominguez
Hills and CSLA.